Mayoral candidates respond to Freddie Gray settlement

Stokes, Pugh Dixon comment on $6.4M deal

The University of Maryland's Francis King Carey School of Law announced Tuesday it will offer a new course examining the unrest in the city following the death of Freddie Gray. University officials said the course will be titles "Freddie Gray's Baltimore: Past, Present, and Moving Forward." The school says the eight-week course will begin in September.

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Rawlings-Blake said the proposed out-of-court settlement with Gray's family is the result of extensive negotiations to resolve a claim the family had against the city and police. Gray died April 19, one week after suffering injuries while in police custody.

"This settlement is being proposed solely because it is in the best interest of the city, and avoids costly and protracted litigation that would only make it more difficult for our city to heal and potentially cost taxpayers many millions more in damages," Rawlings-Blake said in a statement.

The city's police union called the settlement ridiculous, and said it could harm the fragile relationship between police and City Hall.

"To suggest there is any reason to settle prior to the adjudication of the pending criminal cases is obscene," FOP Lodge No. 3 President Gene Ryan said.